Oxymorons of privacy and surveillance in “smart homes”

Abstract Surveillance is an important element of contemporary society. To understand current surveillance and its implications for privacy, this paper contributes to theory by identifying three oxymorons (apparent paradoxes) related to privacy and surveillance in the “smart home.” After discussing how “smart homes” are telling examples of the general privacy paradox (only an apparent paradox), the paper examines two related oxymorons: what I term the oxymoron of the surveillance of care and the oxymoron of inconvenient seamlessness. They are drawn from empirical, historical, and conceptual investigations of users' attitudes and behaviors. The paper identifies defining differences between automated and “smart homes,” the complexity of understanding implications for privacy and surveillance of such homes, and how empirical studies of attitudes about and behavior related to “smart homes” can inform theory. The paper is partially grounded in feminist and historical research about the home, individual and family life, and consideration of contemporary surveillance theories. Carefully examining oxymorons about surveillance and privacy is key to our understanding and to our scholarly and political action, showing the continuing need for critical surveillance and privacy studies.